


In A Perfect World

by Farbautidottir



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Bisexual Character, Boys In Love, Crups (Harry Potter), Custard the Crup, Drama, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, Grief/Mourning, Harry Potter Next Generation, Identity, M/M, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, POV Draco Malfoy, POV Scorpius Malfoy, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23637328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farbautidottir/pseuds/Farbautidottir
Summary: Messing with time can have some unexpected outcomes, as Scorpius Malfoy knows firsthand. So, when the timeline shifts right before his seventh year at Hogwarts, and neither he nor Albus Potter changed it, they have to work to set things right. But in a perfect world, what exactly does "right" look like?
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 21
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With [iNiGmA's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iNiGmA/pseuds/iNiGmA) permission, this story incorporates elements and takes inspiration from her story, [When it Rains](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20017204?view_adult=true), which I highly recommend reading.

Scorpius circled down the spiral staircase from the west wing of Malfoy Manor, his cruppy, Imp, underfoot on the stone steps as he called a “hiya” to his ancestor Septimus Malfoy’s portrait on the final turn. He landed in the vestibule that led to the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt at the sound of the Minister for Magic’s voice.

“Draco, stop. You know we can’t do this again,” she said.

“Hermione, please, just listen to me,” his father’s voice replied in a soft yet urgent tone.

“No, I won’t. After everything we’ve been through…the risk is too great. I could lose _everything_ , and really, Draco, what would this truly gain you? Think about your son. This would devastate him.”

Scorpius’ heart pounded in heavy thumps and he bent to scoop Imp up from the floor so she wouldn’t run out into the kitchen. She licked his jawbone as his father replied.

“He wouldn’t ever need to know.”

Scorpius squeezed the cruppy close as fear oozed down his body from the crown of his head.

“I have to go. This can’t happen again.” Minister Granger’s voice was final.

“I’ll show you out then,” his father said.

“We’ll never speak of this, do you understand?”

“I understand,” his father said with annoyance.

Their footsteps clipped away from him towards the foyer and Scorpius bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming. His dad was having an affair with Hermione Granger. It was the worst revelation possible.

He heard the front door open and close, then silence followed. Scorpius waited for his father’s footsteps to disappear up the grand staircase before he emerged, Imp in tow, headed for the Floo Network fireplace in the front parlour. He couldn’t stand to be in the same house as his dad right now, especially not one as big and empty as theirs. _Their_ house where his mum had died four years ago _today_.

Scorpius’ head spun. There was only one person who could remotely help him process this. He grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, and threw it down while stating clearly, “Potter residence.” Imp’s wagging forked tail faded immediately as he was pulled into the magical transport system.

“Albus! Albus! The worst thing ever just happened, and I _have_ to talk you!” Scorpius called out as the Floo shot him into the familiarity of the Potters’ kitchen.

“Scorpius? Is everything all right? What’s happened?” Mr. Potter asked from his stool at the wooden island.

“Oh, er, yeah. I just really, really need to talk to Albus.”

“Well, Albus isn’t here. He’s with Lily and James. They went to the Quidditch match with their mother and Uncle Ron.”

“Oh. But he said he wasn’t going to go to that?”

“His Uncle George bailed so they had an extra ticket and he decided to go,” Mr. Potter explained.

“Oh.”

“They should be back in a few hours. Did you want to hang out with us while you wait?”

“Us?”

“Hi!” called a bright male voice from the other side of the island.

Scorpius finally noticed the blue-haired guy who’d been sitting there the whole time. His smile was cheery and inviting, like a warm bubble bath, and Scorpius’ stomach gave the kind of jolt he didn’t exactly want to deal with in front of Albus’ dad.

“Er, hi,” he stammered.

“This is Teddy Lupin, my godson. Teddy this is Scorpius Malfoy, Albus’ friend from Hogwarts.”

Teddy jumped up to greet Scorpius, his hair turning lavender as he shook his hand.

“Oh wow, your hair,” Scorpius said dumbly.

“It does that, yeah. I’m a Metamorphmagus. Got it from my mum,” Teddy explained with his warm smile.

“Teddy and I were just catching up. He hasn’t checked in with me for ages.”

“I’ve been busy!” Teddy protested. “Besides, you’re hard to pin down yourself, Harry.”

“There’s some butterbeer in the fridge, Scorpius. Or what would you like?”

“Uh, butterbeer is fine,” Scorpius said, still debating if he should stay.

“Just let him have what we’re having,” Teddy said.

“I can’t serve a child wine!”

“I’m seventeen now,” Scorpius said.

“You’re seventeen already?! When did that happen?” Mr. Potter said in disbelief.

“A few weeks back, in July,” Scorpius said.

“Huh.”

“Happy belated birthday, Scorpius,” Teddy said.

“Thanks, but Mr. Potter’s birthday was more recent than mine.”

“True, but he’s an old man. Nothing to celebrate anymore.” Teddy grinned.

“I have plenty to celebrate thank you very much, and forty-three is not old! How old are you now anyway?”

“Twenty-five.”

Scorpius did the math in his head. They were eight years apart in age. His father would never approve of such a range, so he contented himself to simply enjoy looking at the very attractive young man.

“Still, I can’t in good conscience serve you alcohol without your father’s consent,” Mr. Potter said to Scorpius.

“Honestly, my dad lets me drink wine all the time at dinner. Since I was fifteen,” Scorpius explained.

Teddy began to pour him a glass.

“Stop! I can’t serve my son’s friend alcohol. I just can’t!” Mr. Potter protested.

“Relax, you’re not the one serving him,” Teddy said and slid the wine glass towards where Scorpius stood at the island.

He met his eyes playfully and Scorpius couldn’t believe Albus had never mentioned before how hot Teddy was.

“Do not tell your dad about this!” Mr. Potter said to him.

“I won’t.”

“You promise? He’ll kill me,” Mr. Potter said.

“My father wouldn’t kill anyone,” Scorpius said, but thought glumly, _though he apparently would have an affair._

“You know what I mean,” Mr. Potter said.

“I promise. Like I said, he lets me drink wine anyway.”

“All settled then,” Teddy said brightly. “Come sit down, Scorpius.”

He yanked over another stool and situated it between himself and Mr. Potter then patted the seat. Scorpius walked around them to sit, his back now to the Floo fireplace and the view of the garden before him through the tall windows lining the room.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Scorpius said.

“It truly is, though Harry says the garden gnomes are in full attack, so he already declined my request to move to the patio out back.”

“Full attack, huh?” Scorpius smirked.

“They really are!” Mr. Potter exclaimed.

“Albus says you don’t have any garden gnomes at all,” Scorpius said.

“Are you saying Harry Potter is a liar?” Teddy teased.

“That seems quite accusatory.” Scorpius smiled at Teddy and his hair turned lavender again.

“Thank you, Scorpius,” Mr. Potter said gratefully, either missing or ignoring Scorpius’ sarcasm entirely. “I’m not lying. Just because Albus has never seen any of the gnomes doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“To seclusive garden gnomes,” Teddy said as he held up his wine glass.

Mr. Potter rolled his eyes but clinked his godson’s glass. They looked at Scorpius expectantly and he raised his wine glass to theirs. His eyes met Mr. Potter’s and, for an odd moment, the barrier of their inherent relationship vanished, and they were left seeing each other just as human beings.

Abruptly they returned to Harry being Albus’ dad and Scorpius being Albus’ whatever-they-were. And _that_ wasn’t exactly defined because Albus didn’t seem to want to define it. But Scorpius didn’t want to press because if it wasn’t what Albus wanted, then their entire friendship might fall apart, and the thought of losing Albus as a friend was simply too much to bear. Especially today, of all days.

The three drank a gulp of wine after separating their glasses and Scorpius remarked, “Wow, this wine is really nice.”

“It is, isn’t it? Bill brought a case over after they got back from visiting Fleur’s family last week,” Mr. Potter explained.

“How is Victoire?” Teddy asked.

“You two don’t talk?”

“Not really. You know how it goes,” Teddy shrugged.

“Do I?” Mr. Potter laughed. “I married my girlfriend from Hogwarts.”

“You dated Albus’ cousin?” Scorpius asked, drinking more wine to mask his disappointment that Teddy liked women.

“Yeah, Victoire, for a couple years. But we broke up during her seventh year, so we didn’t exactly stay friends.”

“How’s the love life now? Is that why I haven’t seen you?” Mr. Potter pressed.

“Probably! Derek ended things two months ago. But I’m better without him to be honest. He was holding me back.”

Scorpius downed more wine as he processed Teddy was bisexual. He knew he was probably drinking too fast, but he was still too upset about his dad’s affair to care.

“I don’t even know who Derek is,” Mr. Potter said.

“Oh, well, we dated like ten months, maybe? Whatever, he’s toxic energy and out of my life. That’s all you need to know.”

“Well I’m glad he’s gone then.”

“Me too.”

There was a pause in conversation while everyone reflected independently on if they had toxic relationships in their life at the moment. Scorpius immediately thought of his dad’s affair, but he didn’t want to dwell on that, so his mind drifted to Albus instead. He certainly did not think Albus was toxic by any means, but he wished he’d just call him his boyfriend already. It was eating him up not knowing if that was what Albus really wanted.

“So, what was the terrible thing that happened before you Floo’d over here?” Teddy asked easily as he refilled Scorpius’ glass.

“Oh, you must not know many Slytherins. Did you think I would get tipsy and reveal my secrets?” Scorpius replied coolly.

Mr. Potter sniggered.

“On the contrary, my gran who raised me is a Slytherin,” Teddy said, not missing a beat.

“I didn’t think the Lupins were in Slytherin.” Scorpius frowned trying to envision the lineage tapestries in the Slytherin Common Room.

“Gran isn’t a Lupin. She’s a Black.”

“So was mine, but she died a couple years ago.” Scorpius said. His eyes widened as he realized the truth. “Oh, your grandmother is Andromeda Tonks, my gran’s estranged sister. What’s she like?”

“She’s great. A bit old lady like now, you know, but she’s one of those unique souls. A rarity.” His eyes lingered on Scorpius a long moment before he added, “You could meet her sometime, if you want. I’m sure she’d like that. If your dad didn’t mind, of course. Or, well, this time next year if he does mind.”

“I’d like that.”

“Good.” Teddy smiled warmly.

“You know,” Scorpius started with a laugh. “Albus has a thing for descendants of the Black sisters. You should watch out.”

“So, I’ve heard.” Teddy threw a knowing smirk at Mr. Potter and Scorpius felt the heat rising from his neck to his face as he realized neither of them was thinking of Delphi like he’d meant.

Teddy stood and grabbed another bottle of wine from the case on the floor by the pantry. He returned to their spot at the island and uncorked it with the flick of his wand.

“Wait, so, we’re like cousins?” Scorpius asked as Teddy poured himself a refill.

Teddy frowned with distaste. “I guess so. Second cousins.”

“I wouldn’t let it get you down. Ginny’s grandmother is a Black too, which means so is Bill’s. So, it’s not that different from you and Victoire dating. Honestly, I think everyone is related to a Black in some form or another. There’s even a Potter somewhere in that family tree.”

“Harry, correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you’re telling me and Scorpius it’s okay if we date,” Teddy said.

Scorpius choked on his wine and Mr. Potter rubbed his back as he went into a coughing fit.

“No one could date him if he’s died of shock,” Mr. Potter said clucking his tongue.

Teddy laughed and drank more.

“Besides, he’s much too young for you,” Mr. Potter went on.

“Is he? Eight years seems reasonable given my parents’ twelve-year age span.”

Scorpius had gotten his coughing together, but now felt like his face was on fire from how profusely he was blushing.

“I did always think it was weird your mum was into Remus. She was far closer to me in age, you know?” Mr. Potter said with a waggle of his eyebrows. “It’d be like… I don’t know, like Luna Scamander and Bill Weasley getting married.”

“Or me and Lily?” Teddy said, pursing his lips.

“Watch yourself, son.”

“Ha! Not to worry, your daughter will always be a little sister to me,” Teddy assured him. “It’s funny you say this though because my mum thought you were cute.”

“Did she?” Mr. Potter lit up. “No, she didn’t. Cute like a little kid, maybe.”

“She did! I read it in her diary. I never told you this?”

“You never told me this.”

“Well, she wrote something like, ‘Harry doesn’t even know he’s a catch. Too preoccupied with saving everyone else to see himself as he is. And trust me, he’s a cute one.’”

“She really wrote that?” Mr. Potter asked, his eyes glistening.

“Yeah, something like that. I’ll bring you the diary. I can’t believe I never told you this before. I guess you macking on my mum hasn’t come up… which just seems odd now that it’s all come out like this.”

“Fuck off!” Mr. Potter said. His eyes widened and he looked at Scorpius quickly, “I didn’t say that.”

Scorpius held up his hands in innocence. “I’m just here witnessing life, sir.”

“I like him so much,” Teddy stage whispered to Mr. Potter, then shook with the kind of laughter that aches in your ribs.

“This is a bloody disaster,” Mr. Potter said, shaking his head and drinking a generous swig of wine to drain his glass before refilling it.

“Chin up, godfather, no one’s dead or hurt. Things are going well, right Scorpius?” Teddy said, giving Scorpius a wink.

“Exactly, no one is dead. That’s better than four years ago today.”

Mr. Potter looked at him sympathetically.

“Who died four years ago?” Teddy asked.

“My mum.”

“Oh, that’s shit. Sorry.”

“Thanks.”

Teddy poured him more wine and said, “Well, at least you have your dad, eh?”

“True,” Scorpius said.

“And you had your mum for what… thirteen years? That’s a lot from where I’m sitting. I had my mum for a month.”

Scorpius nodded vaguely, his focus on the bottom of his wine glass.

“And Harry had his parents like a year and some change. Yeah, you’re pretty lucky at this table.”

Scorpius looked up at them. ‘Lucky’ had never been a word he’d assigned his plight. Teddy was smiling with pained eyes and Mr. Potter was clearly lost in a memory.

“They were really great, your parents,” Mr. Potter said to Teddy.

“I know,” Teddy said quietly.

“No, you don’t. And it’s shit that you don’t. It really is. I remember when your dad told me about my parents. It was like a piece of my soul had been awakened and I could grasp at who I really was. He told me how kind my mother was, how she lacked the judgement others held. And I didn’t know anything about her. I didn’t know a damn thing other than I had her green eyes. Everyone was excited to tell me _that_. But your dad, he told me who she _was_. He knew her and he told me what he knew.” Mr. Potter drank more wine and continued, “So, yeah, maybe I thought your mum was fit and cool. But she _was_. I was fifteen and she was everything I wanted to be. And I don’t think that’s weird. It’s amazing. You had an amazing mum! She was your age when she died, maybe exactly your age. And that’s shit. Because she was so much more than that. And you’re so like her, it’s ridiculous. Being around you, I know exactly how your dad felt around me, because he saw my parents’ traits in me, and I just… I see her _inside_ you. It’s vivid and pure. And you’re lucky, Teddy. You really are, because she was really great, and you have all of her in you.”

The three of them sat there in silence after Mr. Potter concluded his soliloquy. Teddy was crying, the quiet tears that slip from your eyes without permission. Scorpius knew these tears well. He suddenly felt truly lucky. He had his dad. He’d known his mum. Neither of these men had.

“Oh look, I’ve ruined the moment with all my maudlin reverie,” Mr. Potter said caustically. He threw Scorpius a fake smile and said, “I swear I usually never talk about this.”

Scorpius grasped his forearm that lay on island’s wooden countertop.

“Maybe you should,” he said gently.

Mr. Potter met his eyes. The two were stripped of their barriers again and Scorpius felt an overwhelming amount of compassion for the man.

“I’m really glad Albus has you. I hope you know that,” Mr. Potter said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Scorpius nodded, feeling the tears rise within him.

“I know,” he whispered.

Mr. Potter smiled in the broken way only someone who's known tremendous loss can smile, and Scorpius felt more connected to him, and consequently to Albus, than he’d ever before.

Then the room shuddered and warped around him, and Scorpius was sure it had nothing to do with the wine. He gripped onto Mr. Potter’s forearm more tightly until it stopped.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What was what?” Mr. Potter frowned.

“The shaking. The room just shook,” Scorpius said.

“I didn’t feel anything. Maybe you’re, uh, hungover from last night?” he whispered the last bit.

“Why would I be hungover?”

“You just told me you and Teddy had a ton to drink,” Mr. Potter said as he rolled his eyes.

“Teddy? Wait, where did he go?” Scorpius looked around the kitchen for him, but he wasn’t there. Instead, there were small changes from before the room shook. Nothing major, just different finishes: more vases of fresh flowers, a white quartz countertop on the island, crown molding framing the ceilings, family photos in sleek metal frames instead of wooden ones. Though there seemed to be an extra kid in the photos, but they were too far away for Scorpius to really make out who was who.

“You just said he’d be here any minute to pick you up.” Mr. Potter leaned in and added quietly, “If your mother asks, please inform her I was good and reprimanded you for last night even though I’m quite happy for you, both of you.”

A smirking smile spread across his face as he said the backend of it.

“My mother?”

“Look who’s finally awake,” the unmistakable voice of Scorpius’ mother floated into the room. He spun to face her and there she was. _Alive_. She looked healthier than he’d ever seen her before. Her skin was bright with almost a rosy glow to it. Her hair full of body and gleaming in the sunlight streaming in through the windows as she slid into the breakfast nook’s bench seat with a cup of juice. The nook had never been there before, but Scorpius didn’t dwell on that. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“We already spoke about it, don’t worry,” Mr. Potter said as he slipped off his stool and went to her. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Scorpius’ entire being froze as if time had slowed and he was witnessing a train wreck.

 _Time_. It hit him like a bludger to the chest.

“Does your scar hurt?” he cried.

“What? My scar hasn’t hurt since Voldemort was defeated. Why are you asking that?”

Scorpius exhaled in relief.

“I think when the room shook before, that the timeline changed,” Scorpius said.

“The timeline changed? What nonsense are you on about? Did James put you up to this?” his mum asked.

“James? Why would James put me up to this?”

“James is too busy with work. He’s really matured, Astoria. You should lay off him,” Mr. Potter said sternly.

“Fine, you’re right.”

They kissed again, smiling at each other quite intimately, as if Scorpius wasn’t there or had seen it all before. Maybe in this timeline he had, assuming this was an alternate timeline and not some nightmare.

“Where’s Albus?” Scorpius asked to distract them from kissing. It was so uncomfortable to watch.

“At his mum’s still. He’s back tomorrow night like always,” Mr. Potter said.

“So, you and Ginny are divorced?” Scorpius asked cautiously.

“Did you not get any sleep at all? Of course, we’re divorced. That was before you were even born.” Mr. Potter laughed.

“Right, of course, so Lily… um… Lily?” Scorpius managed, the sinking feeling of Lily not existing overcoming him.

“Your sister is with your Aunt Daphne,” his mum explained, adding judgmentally, “Some people in this house are able to get home by curfew and therefore able to go out shopping with their aunt.”

“It won’t happen again. I promise,” Scorpius said. All his experience with alternate timelines taught him to just go with things best he could until he could properly figure out what exactly had changed.

“It’s fine. Really, Astoria, trust me. I’ll explain later,” Mr. Potter said giving Scorpius a wink.

 _Sister._ The word hadn’t sounded weird at first because Lily was Albus’ sister so he was used to her being called that. But now, here in this room of bizarre happenings, he started to feel sick as he forced himself to ask, “When is Lily’s birthday?”

“January 12th,” his mum said.

“What year?”

“What year? You really are acting funny this morning. We had her two years after we had you. Once I healed from the Muggle procedure,” his mum said.

“Embarrassingly nine months after.” Mr. Potter grinned.

“Harry, I doubt our son wanted to know that.” Astoria shoved him playfully out of the way as she stood to get more juice.

Scorpius didn’t mean to say what came out next. The answer was already clearly stated in the open. But he couldn’t help blurting out, “So, Draco isn’t my dad?”

“Honey,” his mum said frowning. She felt a hand to his forehead and his heart sped up at her touch. “Maybe you shouldn’t go out today with Teddy.”

“No, he really should,” Mr. Potter said adamantly.

Scorpius felt like he should be embarrassed by the tone of Mr. Potter’s voice, but he had no clue what he was talking about.

“I’m just feeling odd today. Emotional, I suppose.” Scorpius attempted to smile at his mum.

“Well, you know Draco isn’t your dad. You know the story. We told you years ago, sooner than I ever wanted to, but your dad insisted because he knew you’d hear about it from the rumors if we didn’t. And really as Ginny had remarried Draco, there wasn’t any other option.” There was acid in his mother’s voice as she said Ginny’s name and Scorpius glanced at Mr. Potter whose eyes winced a bit at the mention of Ginny remarrying Draco.

“You had an affair.” It came out as a whisper. He was the product of an affair.

“We don’t really think about it that way despite what everyone else says. Harry saved my life. Having _you_ saved my life,” she said, reaching for Scorpius’ hand.

He let her take it even though he felt like he didn’t know her any longer. Still, she looked and sounded like his mum. She still _was_ his mum, whereas Draco was not still his father. Most importantly, she still was _alive_.

“Saved your life?”

“Yes, Harry’s skin, you know the story,” she said.

“I know that I know the story, but… I just really wanna hear it again.” Scorpius pressed, smiling as playfully as he could muster for effect.

“All right,” his mum smiled fully, giggling a bit as she added, “I think I know what happened last night.”

Scorpius said nothing. He had no idea what happened last night other than he drank alcohol with Teddy and got in well past curfew. As he’d never had a reason to have a curfew before, he could only imagine what hour that actually meant.

“Well, it was Draco’s doing really. He thought we should befriend the Potters, that it might help me emotionally. I was unable to conceive then, you see,” his mum said. Mr. Potter squeezed her shoulder tenderly.

“Yes, I know. Dad told me,” Scorpius said. His mother frowned, spinning on Harry, and Scorpius regretted speaking. He’d meant _his_ dad, Draco.

“I never told him,” Mr. Potter said.

“I figured it out, sorry.”

“No, no, don’t apologise, sweetie. It’s just a difficult topic.” She smiled reassuringly and mussed his hair. Scorpius lapped up her touch as she continued, “So your dad and I worked together, but we never spoke until Draco had me coordinate the dinner with him. The dinner was… uncomfortable, but I felt—and your dad felt—we should at least be cordial to each other at work now.”

“Right,” Scorpius said impatiently. “How did this save your life?”

“Well, one day at the Ministry, we finally touched. We’d never actually touched before, skin-to-skin, so we didn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“The cure.”

“Your touch is the cure to my mother’s blood malediction?” Scorpius gaped at Mr. Potter.

“The magic my mother used to protect me from Voldemort’s Killing Curse was ancient enough to work against your mum’s family curse. The Muggles have a procedure called a bone marrow transplant, which would effectively treat your mum’s condition with my bone marrow. St. Mungo’s couldn’t grasp the idea given how non-magical it is, so we went to a Muggle hospital instead.”

“Really? It was that simple?” Scorpius couldn’t believe it. There was a cure. A real cure for his mother.

“I wouldn’t exactly call the procedure simple,” his mum said with a laugh. “But yes, that was all it took. We wouldn’t have realized all this though if I hadn’t had you growing inside of me.”

“Right, that was how we concluded it was more than my touch that was helping her,” Mr. Potter said.

“Exactly. Your touch wasn’t enough, though it certainly felt good.” She grinned at Mr. Potter then looked at Scorpius. “Being with your dad was like magic itself. I’d never felt that healthy in my life at that point. It was impossible to keep away from him once I first felt it.”

“That’s more information than I needed...ever,” Scorpius said quite horrified his mum would go on into full details of how she and Mr. Potter conceived him. “I’ll be in my...room.”

He hoped it was obvious which room was his.

Mr. Potter frowned, glancing at his watch. Only it wasn’t his usual watch but something more modern, shinier. Scorpius recounted how Albus always loved his dad’s watch because it was passed down from Mrs. Weasley from her brother Fabian, who died in the first wizarding war. Albus loved the tradition and preserved memories of it. Scorpius looked around the room, finally recognizing that every trace of the Weasleys was gone. He wondered if Ron was even Mr. Potter’s friend anymore.

“Isn’t Teddy due to pick you up any minute?” Mr. Potter said.

Scorpius had no idea but the crackling bang of the Floo behind him signified someone had arrived. Mr. Potter’s face brightened at the newcomer and an arm wrapped around Scorpius’ torso. He jumped away.

“Sorry to startle you,” Teddy laughed and kissed him on the cheek. “You ready?”

“Have fun!” Mr. Potter and his mum called in unison then smiled at each other about being so in sync. Scorpius wanted to hurl. Teddy began to drag him towards the Floo but Scorpius, in a panic, ran back to his mum embracing her fully.

“Oh, well, this is nice,” she laughed holding him close.

He breathed her in deeply, pleased to find she smelled exactly the same as he remembered. Then Mr. Potter hugged him from the side and ruined everything. Scorpius ducked away, which left Mr. Potter suddenly fully entangled in his mother’s arms. They kissed again and Scorpius’ spine crawled at the sight of it. His mother looked so happy though. She _was_ so happy. But not with _his_ dad. He couldn’t bear to watch anymore and spun to Teddy.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Teddy flashed his electric grin, his hair relaxing to lavender from the odd green it had been when Scorpius moved away from him before. He slid his fingers through Scorpius’ and took a pinch of Floo powder from the container that Scorpius recognized as his mother’s. It was all too weird seeing it here on the Potters’ mantel.

Teddy called out “Tonks’ residence” and then they tumbled out into his grandmother’s parlour to find three old women clucking away over tea while one of them knit. He recognized her straight away as Albus’ gran, Mrs. Weasley. Next to her sat his own gran, Narcissa Malfoy, who looked rather less formal and coifed than he remembered her back when she was alive. Beside her on the couch was someone he’d never met, but her appearance was similar enough to his grandmother’s and they were in the Tonks’ residence that he surmised she was Andromeda Tonks, his estranged great-aunt. _When did they become friends again? And what on earth would Grandma Weasley be doing with his gran? They hated each other!_

“Hello dear, oh hello Scorpius,” Andromeda said to them with a kind smile.

The other two women said hello to Teddy and ignored Scorpius. At least it felt like they were ignoring him. His grandmother had always doted on him heavily, so her lack of acknowledgement felt like a deliberate act. That was when it hit him. She wasn’t his grandmother anymore at all. And of course Grandma Weasley hated him after what Mr. Potter did to her daughter. He was the walking, breathing reminder of their children’s failed marriages.

“Come on,” Teddy said, gently guiding him away from the uncomfortable scene.

Scorpius let himself be pulled upstairs and into a bedroom. Teddy locked the door behind them and turned on the radio. He cast a privacy spell and set down his wand.

“Hi,” he said.

His smile lit up the entire space and Scorpius finally pieced together that they were an established couple in this timeline. He wasn’t sure how that happened, but he wasn’t exactly angry about it. This was definitely better than Polly Chapman wanting to date him in the Augurey timeline.

“Hi.”

“I know I said we’d go do something today, but after last night, I really just wanted to be alone with you again. Is that all right?”

Scorpius swallowed and mustered the courage to ask what he was quite certain he should already know.

“After what part of last night?”

Teddy wrapped his arms around his torso and kissed him on the lips sweetly.

“Every part.”

Scorpius really wished he was better at flirting because he was sure someone who was could turn this into a coy little game. Instead he said stupidly, “Which was your favorite part?”

Teddy appeared not to mind his dumb question, and perhaps even took it as flirting, because he gave him an adorable little smirk, kissed him again and whispered, “I’ll just show you.”

Scorpius was entirely unsure what to do now. Sure, he and Albus had done things before, but not like this. They always talked about it and overanalyzed it. It wasn’t necessarily romantic. Albus wouldn’t define them like that, or really define them at all. What they had was different, deeper somehow, even though Scorpius always believed romantic connection was the deepest kind. Especially seeing his father so grieved about his mother’s death for all these years. Though now his father was having an affair, so was that even valid anymore? Of course, Draco wasn’t even his dad in the timeline, so maybe it was all moot.

It turned out Scorpius’ inaction was sufficient activity for Teddy to proceed in removing his own shirt and start to tug on Scorpius’. He stopped him.

“Can we kiss more first?” Scorpius asked to stall whatever was about to happen from last night.

Teddy nodded happily and met Scorpius’ lips in a delicious crescendo of fast and slow movements. Scorpius let himself get lost in it. If the alternate timeline was going to take away his real father from him, he would at least enjoy the good things it gave him. He pressed his tongue into Teddy’s mouth, his hormones now surging, and Teddy’s kiss became hungrier. Scorpius finally moved his hands to Teddy’s bare torso. The skin was smooth and made his fingertips buzz. Teddy started walking them towards the bed and laying Scorpius back on it. He pulled away just long enough to take off Scorpius’ shirt then started to kiss him again. It felt so good. Then Teddy began to unbutton his trousers.

A deluge of complicated emotions flooded him, all vying equally for his attention. He didn’t even know where to start. _Teddy and I had sex last night_ , he suddenly realized. _That is the thing that happened. Not that it was really me, but still. Merlin, I told Mr. Potter about that? Gross. Does Albus tell his dad stuff like this? Wait, will Albus be mad about this? So what if he is! He’s had his chance to define us as boyfriends, and he hasn’t._

“Teddy,” he started, but Teddy’s hand had found its way into his underpants and around him. All he could do was let out a noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a moan as the shock of pleasure surged through him.

“Yes?” Teddy grinned at him.

Scorpius shifted his weight so Teddy could gain better access to him. His heart raced, his brain was now murky, and everything was focused on the pleasure Teddy’s hand was giving him. Especially as Teddy’s lips traced down his body.

As his kisses progressed closer and closer, Scorpius’ brain kicked back into gear at full speed.

_Can I actually do this? Is this even morally right? I only met this guy two hours ago! I can't lose his virginity to a guy I only met two hours ago. Especially not when we had sex for the first time last night already. And what about Albus? Will he actually be okay with this? Merlin, this is confusing!_

He was coming to the conclusion to stop Teddy when he looked down and saw his own chest. He was covered in dark chest hair. It was everywhere.

“What the fuck is that?” Scorpius blurted out in horror.

“What?” Teddy asked with alarm.

“What?” Scorpius said.

“What’s wrong?” Teddy asked.

“I have chest hair. Like, a lot of it.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s really sexy,” Teddy grinned up at him.

“But I don’t…” Scorpius trailed off as it clicked. He looked at himself more. The hair was dark, black even. His skin wasn’t pale either, but olive. “Stop. I need a mirror. Stop, just stop.”

“Hey, what’s wrong, babe?”

“I just… I’m freaking out and I need to stop.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s fine,” Teddy said gently as he stood up. His hair was that odd green color again. “Do you…are you regretting last night?”

“No, I’m not regretting last night,” Scorpius said. It wasn’t even a lie since he didn’t actually _do_ anything last night to regret. “I just think it’s all moving faster than I’m exactly ready for. I don’t know what’s even happening to me. Do you have a mirror?”

“Yeah, inside my closet door.”

Scorpius stood and buttoned his trousers, noting the pubic hair was totally different than his normal dark blond. He walked to the closet door with trepidation, as if a boggart were inside. A boggart would probably be better than what he would discover though. At least he knew how to deal with a boggart.

“Scorpius, you’re worrying me.”

“Teddy, just give me a minute, please.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.”

Scorpius opened the door and looked at his reflection. It was alarming. Like Albus was staring back at him, but different. His hair was a chestnut brown like his mother’s, but the rest of him was simply and undeniably _not_ Malfoy. His skin was without blemishes and much darker, more like Mr. Potter’s olive complexion. His chest hair was everywhere, continuing down his stomach all the way to his pubic hair. He had dark arm hair as well. Then there were his eyes. They weren’t bright green, thankfully, but they were a startling shade of hazel. Some kind of combination between Mr. Potter’s green and his mother’s blue. He stared into them, mesmerized by the intricacy of the iris design. He combed his hair back to feel its thick texture and noticed that he had more muscles than normal. Muscles that came from playing Quidditch.

“Oh fuck! I _am_ Harry Potter’s son!” Scorpius wailed.

Teddy laughed from the bed.

Scorpius scrutinized himself further in the mirror. He came to the conclusion he was, objectively speaking, extremely attractive. It was not a feeling he’d ever had before. His actual father and mother’s combination had not seemed to produce a child that anyone other than Albus found attractive.

 _His actual father_.

The words hung out like laundry on the line, blowing in the open for everyone to see. He couldn’t see any father but Harry in his reflection. Draco _wasn’t_ his father.

He had to find Albus and figure out what happened. Albus must have changed the timeline, but why? And why was he aware of it if he did?

“Babe, are you done checking yourself out?”

“Listen, Teddy,” Scorpius said. His tone gave away what he was about to say.

Teddy sighed.

Scorpius walked to him with a pained look and said, “I really should go. I need to find Albus.”

“Albus? Right now? Why?” His hair flared an unnatural yellow.

“I can’t explain.”

“He’s such an asshole to you. Why would you want to see him sooner than you have to? Doesn’t his two weeks at your dad’s start tomorrow night anyway? Can’t you just wait to see him then?”

“I can’t wait, and I can’t explain it. I’m really sorry,” Scorpius said.

“I don’t really know what to say. I really like you, Scorpius. Like _really_ like you. More than any boyfriend or girlfriend I’ve ever had. We can slow down, that’s fine. I know I’m a lot older than you, so I don’t want to push things faster than they should go. I just…you were totally ready for it last night. You initiated it all, not me. I’m really happy about it, of course, but, I just…I’m just confused.”

Scorpius kissed him lightly because he felt so terrible for leaving when in any normal circumstance he would absolutely stay.

“If I can explain it to you later, I will. I promise,” Scorpius said.

“Okay, thanks. So… let me show you out, I guess.”

Scorpius pulled his shirt on quickly and said, “Thanks.”

Teddy pulled his shirt back on as well and grabbed his wand before unlocking the door and leading Scorpius back downstairs. His hair settled into a light turquoise.


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, in Malfoy Manor, Draco was certain he was having a wonderful dream. Moments before, yet years ago, he’d been lying in bed with Astoria, listening to her sleep, when he knew he should return to his timeline. He’d adjusted the time turner to return, had a smug thought about how wrong Hermione had been to consider this innocent trip to see Astoria as anything dangerous, and then closed his eyes while time bent and shuddered around him.

His eyes were still closed now, so he was sure it was some lovely dream about Astoria as he felt the touch of a woman’s fingertips on his bare chest. He dared not open his eyes and risk ending the dream. She traced doodles across him, which actually felt more like Quidditch plays as he started to visualize the ‘X’s and ‘O’s. _Clever_ , he thought and moaned lightly with amusement and arousal. Her hand started downward, pausing at his waistband to untie the drawstrings of his pajamas while her lips kissed his bare chest. She slipped her hand beneath his waistband and Draco murmured a soft, “Astoria,” into the air.

The touching stopped abruptly.

“ _What_ did you just call me?” the voice of Ginny Potter shrieked.

Draco’s eyes flew open to find Ginny wearing just a robe in his bed.

“Ginny?! Wait… _what_?”

“Nice try. But you did _not_ call me that.”

She was furious.

“Sorry,” Draco said calmly to cool her down.

Inside his mind, however, nothing was calm. Clearly, he had changed the timeline somehow.

He sat up so he could take in his surroundings better and felt the hard metal of the time turner under his pillow. Relief seeped through him. At least he had a way out.

Ginny continued to glare at him, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. She was wearing a familiar emerald ring—his ring—the one his mother wouldn’t give him for Astoria. He looked around the bedroom and saw it was entirely different. Full of feminine touches and warm tones. A photo of him and Ginny in wedding clothes smiled out at him from a wooden frame.

_What the hell have I done?_

Ginny—his wife apparently—was still mad. He had to say _something_.

“I suppose I said her name because it’s the anniversary of her death,” he said softly. Surely no one could argue with _that._

“The anniversary of her _death_? If only she was dead!” Ginny cried.

“That was a nasty thing to say.”

“She’s a nasty woman.” Ginny shrugged.

Draco stared at her in disbelief.

“Were you always this mean? Even to Harry?”

Draco immediately learned this was _not_ a permissible thing to say as Ginny swiftly punched him the arm so hard he was certain he’d have a bruise. The bedroom door opened at the same moment and Draco could hear Albus Potter start to call out, “Scorpius?” only to stop and gasp, “Mum?! Why are you in Mr. Malfoy’s bed punching him?”

“Because your stepfather is being an asshole,” she said flatly.

_Stepfather?_ He supposed it made sense if they were married.

“Violence doesn’t solve our problems…isn’t that what _you_ taught me?” Albus said, looking both horrified and confused.

“Your son is right. Violence is never the answer,” Draco said, rubbing his arm. He needed everyone to leave so he could figure out what happened and then go back and fix it.

“Where’s Scorpius?” Albus asked, averting his eyes from them.

Ginny got off the bed, retightening her robe as she walked to Albus and ruffled his hair.

“I’ll assume he’s at your father’s. Now if you’re coming with me and Maia today, you need to go get ready,” Ginny said and disappeared into the walk-in closet.

“Why would he be there? And who’s Maia?” Albus wondered quietly to himself.

Relieved Albus seemed equally miffed by the changes, Draco motioned him into the room as he slipped the time turner into his pajama pocket. He looked around for a shirt, finding one hung over the vanity’s chair. The vanity was another thing that didn’t exist in his reality.

“You used the time turner?” Albus hissed once Draco wore a shirt.

“So, you know it’s different? Shouldn’t only I know?” Draco whispered.

“It makes no sense, but I was at a Quidditch match with James, Lily, my mum and Uncle Ron, then suddenly I was in Scorpius’ room only it _wasn’t_ his room, it was _mine_. And then I knew something happened, so I started looking for him.”

“Oh, Draco, don’t forget your mother is coming for dinner,” Ginny said as she exited the walk-in closet fully dressed and crossed to the vanity to pull out a diamond necklace. “Clasp me?”

Draco let out a breath. His mother had died two years ago. Albus hurried to help Ginny.

“I don’t think I’m coming today. I just feel tired,” Albus told his mother.

Draco silently admired his ease at lying.

“Well, rest up. And don’t forget about the dinner tonight. We may arrive home late, so I’ll need most of the stuff ready.”

“We won’t forget. Dinner at seven, cocktails at six?” Draco said, spouting off his mother’s usual timetable. That is, when she was still alive.

“Yes,” Ginny smiled at him and then Albus.

She moved to give Draco a quick peck on the mouth and he didn’t know how he should react in front of Albus, but he didn’t want to get punched again, so he let her kiss him briefly before he said, “You’d better get going.”

“Have a nice day. Don’t get into trouble,” she said heading for the door.

“We won’t,” Draco and Albus said in unison.

She laughed and then called out, “Maia, time to go!”

“I’m ready,” a girl with long, strawberry blonde hair and a dusting of freckles over pale skin said as she appeared in front of the bedroom doorway. She was maybe fourteen, her hair meticulously shaped and held in place with a mint green headband that complemented her deep lilac sundress.

Draco stared at her in muted shock, recognizing his and Ginny’s features in every aspect of her. She glanced in the bedroom and called, “Bye, dad! See ya, Albus.”

“Er, bye,” Albus said.

Draco managed to smile and wave, not that Maia waited around to see it.

He felt numb. _A daughter._

“Mr. Malfoy?” Albus prodded, giving him a little shake.

“Sorry, hi. That was…strange.”

“I know. Trust me, I know. It also means, age-wise, that Lily probably doesn’t exist.”

“But Scorpius does. She said he was at your dad’s.”

“Why he’d be there, I have no idea. But he probably is experiencing the same thing as me, so we should find him, so he doesn’t totally freak out,” Albus said.

“Right, yes, but then…well, what exactly do we do? I didn’t change anything. I went back to see Astoria, just for an hour. I was hardly even there, and we didn’t _do_ anything out of the ordinary. I told her nothing.”

“Clearly you changed _something_.”

“Yes, because now she’s alive,” Draco breathed. “She’s alive and Ginny hates her.”

“Ok, let’s try to figure that out from clues here and then go find Scorpius. Who knows, he might come here looking for you.”

“You’re so calm! How are you so calm? You’re only seventeen! I admit I’m totally freaking out.”

Albus chuckled quietly.

“Well, I happen to have quite a lot of experience with both alternate timelines and calming down a panicking Malfoy.” He grinned fully and promptly gave Draco a hug. “We’ll be all right. You have the time turner, so we’ll be fine.”

Draco relaxed into Albus’ embrace and hugged him back. It made him wish he’d been hugging Scorpius like this all along. It was quite comforting.

“I’m very glad Scorpius has you. I’m sure I’ve never said it before so directly, but I really am.”

Albus squeezed him tighter in response, then they released each other and Albus suggested they look for journals.

“I don’t keep a journal,” Draco said.

“This version of you may have, and I’m certain every version of me will have.”

They agreed to meet back in the master suite and Albus set off for “his” bedroom while Draco changed into trousers, slipping the time turner snugly in their pocket, then went to his study.

His study was still mostly the same, especially in organization. Anything he’d wanted kept private ought to be in the hidden compartment of the desk. He felt for the nick in the wood on the front edge and pressed the tip of his wand to it. “ _Revelio_.”

The simple spell worked as it usually did, and an additional drawer appeared under the desktop. He hesitated a moment, fingers on the handle. _Did he really want to know what happened?_ But he knew he had to figure out what he changed—how it all changed—so he opened the drawer.

Inside was a folder, a photo album, and four leather-bound journals. He started with the photo album, but quickly realized it was all photos he recognized of him and Astoria. He flipped to the end, as they were presented chronologically. The last photo was from Ginny’s baby shower for Albus, dated September 10, 2005 just like it’d been scheduled in his timeline. Only, Astoria never went to that. She’d been in the southern tip of Japan with him at the time. A trip he’d orchestrated so Astoria wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of attending a baby shower when all she wanted was a baby herself.

When he’d used the time turner earlier today, he’d gone back to before their trip, to before Astoria even received the invitation for the baby shower at the end of July. Clearly the effects of whatever he’d inadvertently changed had begun only days after he was there.

More concerning, however, was the fact that there were no photos of Scorpius anywhere. Not in the album or on his desk. Nowhere in the house so far, and there were tons of photos James, Albus and Maia at every age. Draco featured in family photos from well before Maia’s birth, when Albus was still too small to stand. Based on the photographic evidence, he had been married to Ginny for nearly sixteen years here.

He opened the folder and found it held newspaper clippings. The top ones were mostly about his parents; painful memories, but clippings he kept in his reality as well, so he’d never forget what happened. What part his family played in history.

He flipped through the familiar headlines until he came to it—two side-by-side photos of Harry and Astoria under the headline: FAMOUS HARRY POTTER CAUGHT IN AFFAIR WITH DRACO MALFOY’S WIFE. The article lacked much depth but cited the basics. Ginny Potter (now Weasley) had filed for divorce after catching the pair in the act a month before. _No wonder she punched me._ He looked at the article’s date—December 15, 2005. Two months after Albus was born. Draco’s heart skipped a beat. Scorpius had been conceived in mid-October that year.

Finally, he opened the top journal.

The entry was in his handwriting and dated October 22, 2005. In his reality, he and Astoria had already conceived Scorpius by this date.

_Astoria has asked for a separation. I’m not sure what to do. I suggested couple’s therapy, and she agreed to come to one session. The therapist said I should keep a journal to help process my thoughts. So, here I am doing so, except Astoria only went to the one session. She says she’s fallen in love with Harry Potter. After everything I’ve lost in relation to him, to the Dark Lord, all of it, I suppose it’s only fitting I’d lose the one person I ever truly loved to him, too._

Draco turned the page.

_November 15, 2005_

_Things are worse. Astoria is leaving me. She’s left, actually. It’s so much worse and I can’t even express how much. She told me she’s pregnant. We’d decided to stop trying for a couple months to just give it all a break, so I know it’s not mine. It’s Harry’s. Turns out I was the problem all along. She’s left to go live with him now that Ginny has moved out in their divorce. I thought this would hurt an intolerable amount, but I feel nothing. I’m just entirely numb._

Draco shut the journal. He didn’t want to know any more. Scorpius wasn’t _his_ son. He didn’t have a son, only Maia apparently, and two stepsons who were also Harry’s. That meant Albus and Scorpius were half-brothers.

_Oh, shit!_ he thought, rising quickly to find Albus.

He wasn’t back in the master suite, so Draco went to Scorpius’ room. The door was open, and he could hear Albus’ sobs as he approached. The kid was on the floor, leaning against a cherry wood bedframe, knees hugged to his chest. Draco knocked on the door lightly and Albus glanced up at him through swollen eyes and then quickly looked away.

Draco entered and slid down beside him.

“I read about the affair and… and who is Scorpius’ father,” Draco said quietly.

“It’s worse than that.” It came out as a whisper.

“Tell me,” Draco said.

“I hate him, and he hates me,” Albus wailed. “And I’m mean to him. I’m just so mean.”

He lost it again and Draco put a comforting arm around him. Albus buried his face in his chest and Draco rubbed his back to soothe him. Diaries were strewn across the floor of the otherwise tidy room. One lay open close enough to read.

_September 2, 2017_

_I hate Scorpius so much. I thought it’d be better at Hogwarts, but it’s not. Harry still loves him more than me. I’ll never be enough. He barely said bye to me or James and doted all over him. I’d rather Draco be my real dad. At least he loves me. He’ll be so proud of me for sorting Slytherin. I bet Harry will be disappointed. And Astoria won’t care about anything but Scorpius. He sorted Hufflepuff. What a relief. At least I almost never have to see him while we’re at school. I wish I didn’t have to know him at all._

The entry went on, detailing the friend Albus made in Slytherin, some boy who Draco knew had mercilessly mocked him and Scorpius in reality.

“What if he didn’t have the same thing happen and he’s just unaware of us?” Albus sniffled.

“There’s only one way to find out. Imagine how alone and scared he would feel finding his mother alive and Harry his actual father.”

“You’re right. Oh, poor Scorpius.”

“Let’s clean ourselves up and go to the Potters’ to find him.”

Albus agreed and Draco helped him stand.

“Bring the stuff you found. Any info will help to reset time,” Albus said.

Draco nodded.

“Sorry about your shirt,” Albus said.

Draco saw the t-shirt he’d thrown on was damp with Albus’ tears.

“Not to worry. I would never leave the house in just a t-shirt anyway.”

Albus laughed and said, “For what it’s worth, I think I like your hair better in this timeline.”

Draco found Albus’ mirror and saw he had short hair, more similar to how he wore it as a teenager. It did shape his face better, making the sharpness of his features more apparent. He marveled a moment at his physique. He looked much fitter than in his reality. He briefly thought how Ginny’s hair worn long made her exceptionally more attractive than the haircut she had in his reality. Perhaps they brought out a desire to look their best for each other? He thought he’d had that with Astoria, but maybe he had not.

“Did your diary say anything about how Ginny and I ended up together?”

“Not that I’ve found so far. I mostly just refer to you as ‘dad’ and Harry as ‘my father.’ It’s like I grew up entirely with you. So, I don’t think I really ever thought about it. All the photos I’ve seen are of you with my mum and James and…Maia.”

“Yes, that’s all I’ve seen, too.”

“It’s weird I don’t have any photos of me with my dad.”

“You may have them, just put away. I found all my old photos of me and Astoria hidden with my journals. Either way, we should get going. I’m worried about Scorpius.”

“Yeah, me too,” Albus said and pulled off his shirt as he walked to the wardrobe. Draco had never really paid attention the last couple of Augusts when he’d taken Albus on his and Scorpius’ one-week holiday to their seaside cottage near Dawlish, but the kid had a decent smattering of chest hair. Maybe it was new this summer, Draco reasoned. They were due for another holiday in only a week’s time, just before the boys’ seventh year started.

“Oh, looks like I don’t wear t-shirts out of the house either,” Albus laughed as he pulled out a crisp button-down from the row of them. It was the type of shirt Draco used to try to make Scorpius wear, but he always groaned, and then would roll up the sleeves and throw a slightly oversized jumper over it.

“Be back soon,” Draco promised and headed for his bedroom.

His closet was nearly identical to Albus’ and he felt suddenly quite odd, as if Albus was actually his stepson. He wondered if the entire Cedric/Delphi/Voldemort ordeal had even happened in this timeline. Hadn’t Harry’s shitty parenting set that all into motion? If Albus considered _him_ his dad and felt supported by _him_ , then he wouldn’t have needed to act out like that. He shook the thought and pulled a grey vest on over his button-down to at least differentiate his and Albus’ outfits.

He dashed down to his study to grab the journals and became curious enough to open the top one and flip quickly through until the pages mentioned Ginny frequently. He picked an entry at random.

_July 21, 2006_

_Ginny and I went for drinks again today. I told her about father’s dueling room, and she insisted on seeing it. We dueled all afternoon. I haven’t had so much fun in years. She’s really powerful, and definitely is still working through her anger. She told me she’d be back for more, and I assured her she was welcome any time. Then she kissed me. It was spectacular. I forgot how good kissing can feel. How exciting it can be. I really like her, and I think I wasn’t admitting that before, but now that we’ve kissed… Oh, thank Merlin no one will read this. I feel so happy right now._

He flipped the pages ahead by months.

_February 9, 2007_

_Albus called me dad today. I’ve never felt so whole. I was visiting Ginny, over for dinner with her parents and George and Angelina, and it was just me with Albus and Molly in the den while everyone else went outside to look at Arthur’s new Muggle tractor. Albus called me dad while asking for his toy. Molly corrected him, but he shook his head and pointed at me and repeated, “Dad.” It was a perfect day. I want to marry her. I know it’s not been very long, and all the related baggage, but I feel like Ginny’s who I was meant to be with all along. She’s the most magnificent person I’ve ever met, and I’d really like to spend the rest of my life with her._

“Are you ready?” Albus asked.

Draco snapped shut the journal feeling guilty for having written such strong feelings for the boy’s mother, who was very much _not_ his wife in their reality. He noticed all of Ginny’s features in him for the first time. They were subtle, overshadowed by Harry’s green eyes and black hair, but his face shape and his paler skin, the brightness of his smile. These all belonged to Ginny.

“Nearly,” Draco replied and found his leather messenger bag to pile the journals into. He left the photo album and newspaper clippings and closed the secret drawer. It disappeared when he did and Albus’ eyes widened. Draco reached a hand out to him. “Want me to carry yours?”

“Sure, thanks.” Albus handed over his diaries and Draco secured them in his bag. He slid the time turner in too, worried it might fall out of his pocket.

“Floo Network connects here, too,” Draco nodded towards the fireplace.

They stepped inside, Draco grabbing a pinch of the powder, and Albus said, “I’d better do it. I actually live there, split custody. It won’t block me.”

“Good idea,” Draco said and sprinkled the Floo Powder in his palm. He hadn’t even thought of the possibility he’d be blocked.

“Potter residence!”

They whipped through the system and shot out in what he assumed to be the Potter kitchen. He’d only been there a few times.

“Merlin’s beard!” Albus exclaimed.

Draco’s paternal instinct kicked in immediately, his hand covering Albus’ eyes to shield him from seeing any more of what has happening in the kitchen. Harry had Astoria bent over the breakfast nook table, her skirt up with his trousers fully down. Draco wanted to look away, but the rage building inside him at the fact Harry was fucking his wife mingled with the sheer amazement that Astoria was alive kept him glued to the scene.

It only lasted a moment before Harry and Astoria reacted in a flurry of apologies to Albus.

“We’re looking for Scorpius,” Draco said smoothly.

Astoria eyed him warily, knowing him too well not to see through his mask.

“He went off with Teddy,” Harry supplied once his lounge pants were back on and he’d turned to face them.

“It’s urgent. Where exactly are they?” Draco pressed.

“Is everything all right?” Harry frowned. “Is Ginny okay?”

“Ginny is magnificent,” Draco said tightly and Albus gave his hand a squeeze that did not go unnoticed by Harry.

“Look, father, I really need to find Scorpius right now. Is he at Mrs. Tonks?”

“After last night, probably.” Harry nodded then shared a smirk with Astoria.

Draco didn’t wait for them to explain last night any further.

“Thanks for your help, Potter,” he said and gave Astoria a curt nod. “Perhaps consider a less public room in the future. Your children might walk in on you here.”

“We will have sex wherever we like in our house, Draco, as I’m sure you do with your wife,” Astoria said haughtily.

Draco gaped at her in disbelief. The words stung more than seeing the actual sex. _Was Astoria always as nasty as Ginny had said? When had she become so crass?_

“Dad, come on,” Albus said, pulling Draco back into the fireplace.

Harry winced at his use of the word ‘dad,’ and Draco felt a smug sense of triumph that he knew he should feel guilty about, but didn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco and Albus landed in a scene almost as shocking as the one they’d just come from.

“Draco, darling? What a surprise!” Narcissa rang out from the living room’s sofa. “Oh, Albus! So wonderful to see you.”

“Albus! You look even older than the last time I saw you. Come, let me look at you, dear,” Molly Weasley cooed.

Albus went to her and Draco gawked at Andromeda Tonks, who sat beside his mother. He’d only seen her in photographs, tucked safely away in his mother’s hidden compartment of her bedside table.

“Draco, you two look smart today. Though I did not know you were calling on me. Is everything all right?” Andromeda asked him.

He cleared his throat and answered his aunt whom he’d never spoken to before, “We’re looking for Scorpius. Albus’ father pointed us here. Sorry for the lack of announcement, but there wasn’t any time.”

“What could you possibly need that boy for?” his mother spat.

“Now, Cissy,” Andromeda reprimanded.

“Is Ginny all right?” Molly asked with alarm. His own mother’s expression tightened with anxiety.

“Ginny is perfectly well. She’s out with Maia before our dinner tonight,” Draco replied.

“It’s nothing to worry about, gran,” Albus assured both Molly and Narcissa, smoothing the situation with his bright smile. “Dad’s just being an alarmist. But we do need to speak to Scorpius. Is he here?”

Molly and Narcissa exchanged a pleased smile at Albus’ use of ‘dad’ to describe Draco. It was an exchange Draco never imagined possible in any reality.

“I didn’t realize you all hung out like this,” he said to the women.

“Oh yes, ever since your father and Arthur died. Well, it turns out they were the impediment all along.” His mother shrugged and gave Molly a warm smile.

Draco had never seen her so relaxed. Even after his father died in his reality, though Arthur was still alive there. Maybe it was connected, though he’d never find out since his mother was no longer alive there.

“I somehow doubt Arthur was the primary cause,” Draco said.

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Molly said.

She and his mother exchanged a little smirk and eye roll that Draco was certain he didn’t want to know the rationale behind.

“I see,” he managed.

Albus escaped Molly’s doting as Andromeda stood.

“Scorpius is upstairs with Teddy. I’ll go fetch them,” she said.

 _Teddy?_ Draco thought. He’d never met his second cousin either, though he’d seen him before. The kid was hard to miss with his blue hair. He wondered if they were at all close in this timeline.

Andromeda only made it a few steps towards the stairwell before a guy with turquoise hair and one with Astoria’s chestnut brown hair emerged into the living room holding hands.

“Scorpius?!” Draco and Albus cried at once in flabbergasted disbelief.

Draco felt like he’d fallen off his broom and was hurtling full speed to the ground with no wand to help him. He should’ve realized, should’ve expected, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t at all prepared himself for Scorpius not to look like him.

It was somehow obviously him though, and he was beautiful. He looked as if every best feature of Astoria and Harry converged to form his being and he’d taken full command of them all. He appeared more like a man than a boy, though not as old as Teddy, whose arm now wrapped around Scorpius’ torso gripping the fabric of his son’s shirt. A shirt that was on inside out. Heated protective instincts flared in Draco and he forced himself to focus on something besides ripping Teddy Lupin off his son and painfully hexing him.

Albus let out a quiet, whimpering huff and Draco glanced down to find betrayal painted across his face and shaking in his body. The sudden weight of responsibility depressed Draco’s shoulders. This was a new, massively complicated level of parenting for which he was certain no one could be prepared. He had to regain control of the situation before Albus exploded.

He looked back to Scorpius to find his eyes were pained by Albus’ reaction, and Draco’s heart ached. He wanted to scoop up his son in his arms and hold him tightly. He wanted to reassure him that he loved him and that he wasn’t alone here. But Albus had warned that things only got worse the more out of your timeline’s character you acted, and there were too many mother hens here to make such a scene and get away with it. Still, he had to let Scorpius know that they knew.

So, he said, “Scorpius, your shirt’s on inside out, son.”

Scorpius’ olive skin burnt red and Teddy’s hair changed to an acid yellow. A hoot of laughter came from Molly as she uttered, “He’s a tramp like his parents.”

Draco spun to face her with an icy glare, and she fell silent, exchanging a bewildered look with Narcissa.

“Scorpius, you’re with _Teddy_?” Albus’ voice quavered with repulsion.

Draco turned back around in time to see Scorpius disentangle himself from Teddy and run out the front door.

“Scorpius!” both Albus and Teddy called. They exchanged a contemptuous look and proceeded to race after him.

“Are you all quite pleased with yourselves?” Draco threw at the three women.

They said nothing, faces hung in shame, except Narcissa who was simply too stubborn for such an emotion.

“Good,” Draco muttered angrily and swept from the house after the kids.

They were on the pavement in a Muggle neighborhood, Andromeda’s house being a townhome in Chelsea. Draco scanned them for blatant magic use, finding only Teddy’s hair culprit, and hurried to break up the uncomfortable scene.

“Teddy, go back inside. We came here for Scorpius,” Draco said mildly to quell the tempers.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know Scorpius is all right,” Teddy spat at him.

“If he’s with us, then he’s fine!” Albus yelled. “You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t know him?! He’s my boyfriend! You’re the one who doesn’t know him. Not that you even care. You _hate_ him.”

Albus trembled with anger. His eyes stabbed murderous rage at Teddy’s very existence and Teddy responded by wrapping a protective arm around Scorpius, who was too overwhelmed by the entire situation to act.

“Boyfriend?” Draco cried. “Oh no, that cannot be. You are far too old for Scorpius.”

Teddy chortled loudly, a biting acid behind it, then said definitively to Draco, “Your opinion means nothing to us. You’re not his father, so stop pretending you care.”

Draco lost any words that might have been forming in response. His eyes met Scorpius’, their color foreign, almost like the bright teal of the Mediterranean Sea, and they both took a deep breath. Scorpius blinked back tears. His dad knew it was him. He could see it plainly. His dad knew that this wasn’t the way things were meant to be.

“Teddy,” Scorpius finally said, turning to face him. “I was looking for Albus, and here he is. You should go inside.”

“You’re sure you’re all right?”

“Yes,” Scorpius said with a gentle smile.

Teddy kissed him on the forehead and gave him a tight squeeze before heading back to the house, no goodbye given to either Albus or Draco.

There was a momentary silence once the three of them were finally alone, then they all began to speak at once.

“We need to talk,” Draco said.

“Are you all right?” Albus asked.

“Mum’s alive,” Scorpius said.

“Yes, we saw her on our way to find you. She was certainly very alive,” Draco said.

Scorpius frowned in confusion.

“We walked in on her, er, with my dad in the kitchen,” Albus explained.

“Gross! In the kitchen?! Oh, gross. I did not need that visual!”

“I certainly did not either,” Draco said.

Albus scrutinized Scorpius, walking around him and standing closer than appropriate, as if to measure their heights against one another. Draco felt himself blush as he realized Albus was measuring by where their mouths fell. In their reality, Scorpius was taller than Albus, but here they were the same height. They looked almost like twins stood so close together.

“Stop,” Scorpius said, pushing Albus away. “It’s too weird, stop.”

“It is really weird.” Albus nodded.

Scorpius looked at his dad to question if he too thought it was weird. Draco smiled at him warmly and Scorpius became overwhelmed again.

“You don’t see me differently?” he asked in a whisper.

“No. You look different, sure, but you’re still my son,” Draco assured him.

“I feel like I’m not even myself. Like I don’t know who I am.” Scorpius began to cry.

“You’re my son,” Draco repeated, placing a comforting hand on Scorpius’ shoulder.

He threw a glance back at his aunt’s house where Teddy watched them from the window. A narrow alley led between her townhome and the next one. Draco ushered the two boys towards it saying, “Come on. We need somewhere we can talk privately.”

Once they were hidden from view, Draco pulled out his wand. “Hold onto me.”

They did and Draco apparated them all into a cluster of trees in Hyde Park. He started towards the path that ran beside the Serpentine.

“Wait,” Scorpius said. He decided it was private enough here to fix his shirt.

“Whoa!” Albus exclaimed as he pulled it off.

“I know. It’s awful.”

Draco said nothing, despite how uncomfortable he felt seeing so much chest hair on his son after seeing earlier that Albus had almost an identical amount.

Albus reached out to touch the patch on his stomach and Scorpius swatted his hand.

“Oh, so Teddy can touch you, but I can’t?”

“That was different. He doesn’t know me.”

“Wait.” Albus furrowed his brow as he fingered the formed ab muscles underneath all the hair. “What is this?”

His touch triggered a familiar stirring that unnerved Scorpius. This wasn’t _his_ body. He quickly yanked his shirt over his head leaving Albus’ arm under its hem in the motion.

“I think I play Quidditch.”

“You?” Albus laughed.

Scorpius pushed him away forcefully.

“Yes, me. I look exactly like you and I play quidditch and I have a hot, older boyfriend who really likes me and is more than happy to say it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Albus asked.

Draco started walking ahead of them so they would follow but he wouldn’t have to interrupt what he knew was a conversation his son really wanted to have. Though he certainly would have recommended approaching it differently than how Scorpius was now.

“It means that it’s nice to be someone’s boyfriend.”

“Excuse me?” Albus gaped.

“You’re excused,” Scorpius said coolly and pushed past him and ahead of his dad.

 _Well, that didn’t go as hoped_ , Draco thought.

He heard Albus kick the ground behind him and mutter something under his breath.

“This way,” Draco said, moving ahead of his son and guiding them down a tree-lined path beside the Serpentine.

He led them to a Muggle restaurant in the park that he knew because his father had taken him there on two different occasions. Once after his release from Azkaban to tell him about their dire change in favor with the Dark Lord after Draco failed his mission to kill Dumbledore. Then later to dissuade him from marrying Astoria in favor of a healthy witch who could easily produce a strong heir.

The former was the only time he got entirely drunk with his father. It was also the first time he’d seen his father weep. At first, he’d been mortified. They were in Muggle attire, surrounded by Muggles, and his father was flagrantly weeping in public. Then he understood they weren’t in public there, not really. They were hidden in plain sight. A location the Dark Lord and his acolytes would never dare set foot. His father never gave details, but after he died, Draco discovered and decoded the calendar entries of how often he visited this place throughout his life.

“Serpentine Bar and Restaurant?” Albus read aloud, pulling Draco back to the present.

“Yes, that’s where we’re headed.”

“Hidden in plain sight,” Scorpius murmured, and Draco smiled faintly.

“Exactly. Now, I realize I’m meant to be the adult here, but I think we could all do with a drink.”

“Er, my parents don’t really let me drink outside the house,” Albus mumbled.

“Oh? I thought I was your dad here?” Draco smirked as Albus looked up at him.

Albus broke into a wide grin. “Really?”

“Fuck Harry Potter,” Draco pronounced, feeling deliciously empowered by the declaration and Albus’ resulting laughter. “We’re going to rewrite all this anyway.”

“We are?” Scorpius asked.

“What do you mean?” Albus said sharply, eyes fixed on Scorpius.

“I didn’t travel in time. I don’t know how to fix it,” Scorpius said, adding accusingly to Albus, “Why did you go back?”

“It was me. I changed time,” Draco said quickly. “That’s how I know it’s different. Come on, let’s discuss it all over a pint.”

They filed into the crowded waterfront restaurant and Draco discreetly cast a Confundus charm to free up the most picturesque table. The Muggles sitting there suddenly remembered their reservations elsewhere.

“I’ll get the drinks. Beer?” Draco looked at Albus already knowing Scorpius would want a cider.

“Sure,” Albus said.

“Cider for me,” Scorpius said.

“Actually, me too,” Albus said.

“Two ciders,” Draco confirmed and headed inside.

“So, he’s dad to you here?” Scorpius raised an eyebrow. At least he tried to, only his new face couldn’t operate his eyebrows independently.

Albus giggled at his failed attempt. “Sucks doesn’t it?”

“What? Being a Potter?”

“Not being able to cock an eyebrow. Anyway, my diaries all refer to your dad as ‘dad’ and my dad as ‘father.’ We’re just trying to fit into the timeline.”

“Yeah, me too. How come you never mentioned how hot Teddy is?”

“He’s like my older brother. Not hot. You think he’s hot?” Worry crept into Albus’ voice.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of opinion. Empirically speaking, he is attractive.” Albus squirmed in his chair and Scorpius added in the same casual tone, “Just like this version of me is objectively attractive.”

“You have no idea how _weird_ it is for me to find you so hot looking like this.”

“Narcissistic, perhaps?” Scorpius quipped.

Albus laughed.

“Your eyes though. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love your actual eyes, but these are so… unique.”

“Yeah. Too bad everyone hates me here. I’m finally hot and no one even cares. I’m just the evil love child of Harry and my mum.”

Albus said nothing.

“This is when you should reassure me that you care.”

“I…I mean _I_ care, but you know that. It’s just, we hate each other here. Harry loves you more than me. More than James, too. According to my diaries anyway.”

“I guess it’s for the best since we’re brothers here.”

“I guess,” Albus muttered looking out over the water.

“Not that we’re really even together in our timeline,” Scorpius pressed, keeping his voice as steady as he could while he scrutinized Albus’ reaction.

Albus bit his lip, still looking away. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we aren’t, are we? You never call me your boyfriend.” Scorpius wished he had his cider already.

“Did you kiss Teddy?” Albus asked.

“When?”

“When?! Ever!”

“He’s my boyfriend here. I couldn’t not kiss him. Besides, we had sex last night.”

“What?” Albus hissed, his eyes locked on Scorpius finally.

“Yes, of course I was still Scorpius Malfoy last night, so _I_ didn’t have sex with anyone. I’m still a virgin like you.”

Albus’ body relaxed, but Scorpius didn’t want to let him off that easy.

“But he really likes me. He said so earlier. More than any boyfriend he’s ever had.”

“I really like you!”

A few Muggles glanced over at Albus’ exasperated outburst.

“How was I supposed to know? You’ve never called me your boyfriend.” Scorpius shrugged.

“How were you supposed to know?!” Albus cried. “Have the past two years meant _nothing_ to you?”

More Muggles looked at them. Some didn’t even bother to pretend they weren’t trying to listen. The two boys looked remarkably similar after all, clearly blood relations to each other.

“I could ask you the same thing. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to label us, so I knew where we stood. But you’ve consistently avoided it. What am I supposed to think after two years of that?”

“I didn’t think you needed a label to know how I feel! But now you’re _cheating_ on me with your _cousin_ , so clearly I was right _not_ to label anything!” Albus stood, his face flush with anger. “I’m going to find Draco and see if he needs help.”

“Fine, run to _dad_ when you don’t get your way. Clearly some things never change in any reality.”

“Clearly, because you’re still an asshole,” Albus threw at him hotly before marching into the restaurant building.

The Muggles erupted into a cacophonous hush of gossip and Scorpius felt the heat of tears rise and rush out of him before he could do anything to stop them. Blurred vision and chest bursting with frustration, he stared unseeingly at the Serpentine until the thunk of a pint glass on the plastic table startled him.

“Hey,” his dad said.

“Where’s Albus?”

“Went for a walk to cool off.”

“Good.” Scorpius nodded.

“Let’s talk. I want to explain myself.”

Scorpius looked at him and Draco reached out to wipe his tears away.

“I was selfish. I wanted to see your mother. I went back to a time before you were born. Promise, I didn’t intend to change anything, just to see her. Hermione told me not to, she even warned me to think of you.” Draco laughed once bitterly. “I should have listened to her. But I thought, she doesn’t know how I feel. She doesn’t know what she’s asking. I’m so sorry, Scorpius.”

“Wait, Hermione? That’s what that was about? You two aren’t having an affair?”

Draco laughed loudly, freely.

“What? With Hermione? No, never.” He sipped some beer and chuckled. “And as we’ve learned here, I’m not one to watch when it comes to affairs. Not that I _ever_ imagined your mother was either.”

“I just overheard the wrong part apparently,” Scorpius muttered, then quietly asked, “What if I’d walked in during the conversation, would you still have gone back in time?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Probably so,” Draco said, adding the second part when he saw Scorpius’ expression turn to one of guilt. “It’s entirely my fault though. I should’ve listened to Hermione. We’d be having a nice day of memorial if I had. Instead….” He gestured to their table and the lake before them.

“Yeah.” Scorpius sighed. “But, why now? You knew the risk to time. It’s been four years. Why this year?”

He gulped some cider down while Draco thought.

“I just… missed her. More than usual. Maybe because you’re seventeen now? I think—no, I know—she would’ve been so excited for your seventeenth birthday. She would’ve called you a proper adult and taken you for your apparation exam first thing.”

“Like you did,” Scorpius said quietly.

“Yes, but, with more gusto.” Draco smiled at him. “I can see her in this version of you, too.”

“Dad,” Scorpius’ voice hitched.

“Son?”

“I know how to save her. She and Harry explained how it happened.”

Draco was silent. His heart raced and skin tingled. _They could save her._

“Dad?”

“I heard you.”

“It’s a Muggle procedure. Something called a bone marrow transplant.”

“But… but, what about Harry?”

“Harry’s the cure.”

“Of course he is,” Draco whispered.

“Something about the magic his mother gave him when she shielded him from Voldemort.”

Draco winced at the name and then said, “Love.”

“Huh?”

“The magic she gave him is love.”

“Love is magic?”

“Ancient magic, yes. It’s specific though. She sacrificed herself to save him, and it imprinted the magic into his skin.” Draco drank more. “That’s how my father explained it anyway.”

“I think he’d do it if you asked,” Scorpius said softly.

“Harry? Probably. Hero complex and all. But what about the timeline? What if that changes it again?”

“Mum would be alive.”

“Maybe, but maybe not.”

Scorpius was silent. Deep down, he knew his father was right. Trying to fix time was unpredictable and rarely yielded the desired outcome. But still, they could save her, so shouldn’t they?

“Besides, we’re not the only ones impacted by this choice,” Draco said.

Scorpius scoffed.

“I doubt your new son would protest.”

“I’m not going to take the bait here. Albus is a good kid. I know that you know I really like him mostly because _you_ really like him. Did you happen to finally be honest with him about how you want to be officially boyfriends before he stormed off?”

“How do you know about that?” Scorpius’ eyes widened.

“Oh, please. I’m your father. I know everything. If you didn’t want me to uncover all of your secrets, then you shouldn’t have run away and disappeared in time when you were fourteen.”

Scorpius’ face heated up.

“Fine, yes. I told him that Teddy considers me his boyfriend and that’s what I want.”

Draco furrowed his brow.

“Wait, so you told Albus you wanted to be Teddy’s boyfriend? Which I would _never_ approve of, by the way. He’s far too old. What’s he even doing with someone your age? That’s predatory.”

“His parents were twelve years apart.”

“His parents met when they were adults.”

Scorpius drank his cider.

“Regardless, you said _what_ to Albus?”

“I said that I wanted to be his boyfriend. He said that he thought we already were. Well, no, he said that was why we didn’t need to label it.”

“So, you told him you wanted to label things?”

“Yes!”

Good,” Draco said thoughtfully.

“Then he accused me of cheating on him, called me an asshole, and left.”

“Ah, not good.”

“No.”

“He’ll come around. You’ve done too much time travel together for him not to get it once he cools down,” Draco said reassuringly.

“What does it even matter if we’re stuck here?” Scorpius muttered.

“We’re not stuck here. I have the time turner. I just need to figure out exactly what I did to change Astoria’s trajectory with Harry and his magic love skin.”

Scorpius choked on his cider. “Please don’t ever use that phrase again!”

Draco grinned, pleased his bad joke worked, and opened the messenger bag. He pulled out the journals and handed one to Scorpius.

“Want to help?”

They each opened a journal and started to read. Twenty minutes and several months of Draco falling or being in love with Ginny Weasley later, Albus returned.

“This one mine?” he asked, picking up the full glass of cider.

“Yes, welcome back. We’re trying to sort out the key factor of change,” Draco said.

Albus sipped some of the cider and eyed Scorpius, who pretended not to see as he read an entry from 2015 about his dad attending Arthur Weasley’s funeral and Molly Weasley throwing Harry out of it.

“Sorry I accused you of cheating. I was upset and you were right that we never made anything official,” Albus said in a clearly rehearsed flow.

Scorpius looked up at him and said, “Sit down. Take a journal.”

Albus obeyed and Draco’s eyes flickered between them. Their bodies were so similar, it was surreal. He swallowed down how perturbed the visual made him feel with a swig of beer.

“It’s weird for me too,” Scorpius said, and Draco thought he was talking to him until he noticed Scorpius staring at Albus. “I don’t want to look like you. I don’t want to be Harry’s son.”

“I don’t want that either,” Albus said.

“We’re gonna go back in time and fix it. But, well, there’s something else.” Scorpius eyed his father.

“You tell him,” Draco said.

Scorpius looked back at Albus, “I know how to cure my mum.”

Albus swallowed.

“We can save her,” Scorpius continued.

“That’s… that’s wonderful. But,” Albus started. He smiled and shook his head. “No, that’s wonderful news.”

“But what, Albus?” Draco asked.

“No, nothing.” Albus smiled tightly.

“You get a say in this. You’re affected by whatever choices we make with time. Besides, your father is the cure, so it fairly directly impacts you as well,” Draco said.

Scorpius chewed his lip.

“How could I say no?” Albus whispered.

“Why would you want to?” Scorpius managed through a trembling voice.

“I just…” Albus glanced awkwardly at Draco, then back to Scorpius. “What if the same thing happens again and we’re brothers?”

“We’ll go to after my birth,” Scorpius assured him.

“But what if something else happens? What if your mum being healthy _changes_ you somehow? Changes _us_?”

“Why would having my mother in my life change us?”

“I don’t know. Why would Cedric Diggory become a Death Eater just because we humiliated him? But he did. I just…” Albus breathed in deeply.

“You just what?”

“I just worry that I will lose you. Forever.”

Draco buried himself in the journal entries he was reading.

“Forever? You won’t even label us as boyfriends.”

“Which I am sorry about,” Albus said. He looked at Draco again uncomfortably, relaxing when he saw he was fully engrossed with the journal seemingly unhearing of their conversation. “I don’t know how to say this without it sounding weird.”

“Okay,” Scorpius said.

“I don’t want to risk being your brother or losing you forever because what if we want more? What if we want to get married? And I’m not saying that’s what I’m thinking right now. Right now, I really just want to be your boyfriend. But I just… I don’t want to close that future off. We both know time is too unreliable to trust for something this big.”

“You want to marry me?” Scorpius breathed. His body felt weightless and an errant tear slipped from his eye.

“I might, someday,” Albus said, reaching out to wipe the tear from Scorpius’ cheek.

Draco’s eyes stuck on the same journal entry, trying to disappear as best he could while Albus made his declarations that he knew his son was ecstatic to hear. Their seaside holiday would certainly be different this year. He must have reread the paragraph ten times before it suddenly clicked that it was what they were searching for.

_September 20, 2008_

_Ginny is pregnant. We weren’t even trying, really, just had stopped using birth control. She was right, I’m not broken. All this time and anxiety spent on it, but I’m not. I’m perfectly functional, as it turns out. I feel so lucky. To think, I can’t even remember having the conversation with Astoria that led her to Harry, and in turn, me to Ginny. Apparently, I told her we would be friends with the Potters, that I just could feel it. Maybe I am a Seer and don’t know? How could I block out something so mundane but remember every cruel pain I’ve ever known? It’s illogical unless it was some kind of prophecy._

“This is it!” he exclaimed, startling both Albus and Scorpius. He pointed to the entry. “I told her we should befriend the Potters, and I did it as me—not as this timeline’s version of me. I just have to go back and convince her that it was a joke and I had already planned a getaway trip to avoid the baby shower for Albus.”

“Will you then go back again to talk my dad into saving her?” Albus asked in a quiet voice.

Draco looked between the two boys. Both ran their fingers nervously around the lip of their cider glasses, uncanny mirror images of each other. It felt still so wrong.

“No,” he said softly. “I’ve had my colossal love story. I’m not going to risk the potential of yours.”

Albus released a sigh of relief. Scorpius nodded, the heaviness of shame at his sense of relief sinking into him. Draco took his hand and Scorpius met his father’s eyes.

“We’re going to be okay,” Draco said.

Scorpius nodded, tears falling from his eyes.

“I know,” he whispered.

Albus took his other hand and the three shared a comforting smile.

“All right, one more round then I’ll go back,” Draco announced.

He returned with three more pints and they all relaxed into the beautiful August day. With their decision made, their collective anxiety was swept away, lost amidst the warm breeze and chirping of birds. The conversation flowed to future plans, their upcoming holiday at the cottage, how hard the N.E.W.T.s would actually be, that Rose Granger-Weasley definitely didn’t seem like Head Girl material despite the pronouncement in July. Finally, it was time.

“Stay here and finish your drinks. I’ll see you on the other side,” Draco said.

“I love you, dad. Be safe,” Scorpius said.

“Good luck,” Albus said.

“Thank you. I love you, too. Both of you, really. Couldn’t have gotten to this stage without you two.” Draco’s eyes moistened.

“Dad, you can’t be crying when you tell mum you were joking! Pull it together.”

Draco rolled his eyes at his son’s teasing and picked up the messenger bag. He gave both boys a final nod, nicked a ballpoint pen from the hostess stand, and set off for the hidden spot they had apparated to earlier. He pulled out the fourth journal and turned to the last entry, dated June 5, 2020. Using the purloined pen, he wrote a final entry beneath it.

_August 12, 2023_

_I would say it’s been a long time since I wrote anything here, but that wouldn’t quite describe it. You see, I’ve traveled in time and formed this timeline accidentally. One divergent from my own. One where Astoria was healed by Harry’s bone marrow transplant. One where she survived. But then, as you know from all my many entries, everything else changed. I’m going back to fix it. To get my son back since he was never born here. How Harry and Astoria came up with the name Scorpius, I’ll never know. That was our name, and we hadn’t even thought it up yet. Goodbye, this version of me. I’m glad you had so much happiness. And since this entire journal will likely disappear when I fix time, I will just write this here so I can express it somewhere no one will ever see… Wow, Ginny is so sexy. How did I miss that all these years?_

He chuckled to himself and closed the journal, sliding it back into the messenger bag. He set the time turner to take him to right after he left before, a full five hours before his younger self would get home, and clicked the knob to activate the device.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of this little tale. Hope you enjoy! :)

The world shook and swirled as time bent and Scorpius found himself back in the Potter kitchen, his fingers around Mr. Potter’s forearm. Teddy was crying silently. Scorpius sighed with relief. _So far, so good._

“What color is my hair?” he blurted out.

Mr. Potter looked bewildered, but replied, “Blond.”

“You’re not my dad!” Scorpius cried happily.

“Er?”

“And you, did we have sex last night?”

Teddy guffawed.

“Wait, you’re being serious?”

“Yes, did we have sex last night?” Scorpius repeated.

“I met you like an hour ago, so no. But hey, ask me again tomorrow and maybe I’ll have a different answer,” Teddy said with a waggish grin.

Scorpius rolled his eyes.

“And you’re married to Ginny?” he asked Mr. Potter.

“Yes, married to Ginny,” Mr. Potter assured him with a smile of understanding.

“And Albus is at the Quidditch match?”

“Who’s Albus?” Mr. Potter asked with a frown.

Fear trickled down Scorpius’ body.

“Wh-what?”

Mr. Potter got up and hugged him.

“Merlin, that was a horrible joke. I’m sorry,” he said. “Yes, Albus is at the match. I figured you must have time traveled and thought that’d be funny to say. I was wrong.”

“No, it was not remotely funny,” Scorpius said, pulling from Mr. Potter’s embrace.

“Wow, Harry, just wow. Kid’s been through enough,” Teddy remarked. “We even had sex apparently. That’s definitely an ordeal from what my exes tell me.”

Scorpius chuckled. “Actually, I don’t think you were an ordeal at all, Teddy. Probably the nicest person there.”

The Floo crackled and a relieved, “Scorpius!” came from Draco as he entered the Potter kitchen.

“Dad!” Scorpius cried.

His father dropped his messenger bag on the floor by the fireplace and ran to him. He pulled Scorpius into such a full hug his feet lifted off the ground.

“Oh, let me look at you, son!”

Scorpius let him, beaming through tears of emotion. Draco wiped his face clean with his thumbs then embraced him again.

Only after they separated did he notice anyone else was there.

“Draco, hi. So, time travel, huh?” Harry said with an edge of disapproval.

“Serving my son wine, I see.” Draco replied in the same tone, glancing at the open bottle.

Harry glared at Teddy and Draco laughed.

“Only kidding, Potter. I bought your kids four pints today technically.”

Teddy laughed at this and Draco rounded on him.

“You,” he said, pointing a threatening finger at him. “You better stay away from my son.”

“Dad!” Scorpius hissed in mortified protest.

Teddy’s hair went green under Draco’s menacing glare. “Yes, sir.”

“Scorpius?” Albus breathed out from the doorway to the garden.

Scorpius met his eyes and his entire body flooded with nerves.

“Where’s everyone else?” Mr. Potter asked.

“At the match still. I disapparated,” Albus explained quickly. His eyes hadn’t left Scorpius.

Albus walked directly to him, took his face in both hands, and kissed him fiercely. Draco stepped away to give them space and Harry caught his eye wearing a pleased grin. Draco smiled back at him in silent paternal agreement.

Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus’ waist, glad to feel him against his body at their normal height difference. Albus started to part their lips to say something but Scorpius pressed his tongue into his mouth. They could talk later. Right now, he only wanted to experience Albus as himself.

“So, are we just gonna stay here and watch this, or should we brave the garden gnomes and move out back?” Teddy asked.

“Garden gnomes?” Draco cocked an eyebrow.

“There aren’t any gnomes,” Harry assured him. Teddy snorted. “Did you want any wine, Draco? It’s French.”

“Red?”

“Yes.”

“Sure,” Draco said with a shrug.

“So, what exactly happened in this other timeline?” Harry asked.

“Oh, you wouldn’t even believe me,” Draco said.

“I want to know everything! Sounds like I was living my best life there!” Teddy exclaimed.

Their voices faded away into the sunshine as the door closed behind them.

Once they were alone, Albus forced himself apart from Scorpius’ lips.

“I love you,” he said. His eyes were bright, and Scorpius’ entire body came alive at the energy in his words.

“I love you, too.”

“I’m sorry I wouldn’t define us before.” Albus combed through Scorpius’ hair. “You’re so perfect. I was stupid.”

“It’s all right. I know you’re stupid.”

Albus laughed, pressing up on his toes so their eyelines were even. “Well, that’s why I need a smart boyfriend.”

“Hm, well, good luck with that. I’m gonna go have more wine with Teddy.”

Scorpius made like he was headed for the back door and Albus grabbed him, yanking him into his arms.

“No way I’m letting you go off with _him_.”

Scorpius grinned and Albus kissed him tenderly, intimately.

“Sorry about your mum.”

“Thanks,” Scorpius said. “Though I’d much rather be me and have you than that version of her. Besides, I’m lucky. Teddy and your dad didn’t know their mums at all—plus I have my dad.”

“Your dad is really great.”

“Actually, so is yours. Though his humor needs some work,” Scorpius said. “We were having a nice chat before my dad messed everything up.”

“Should we go join them?” Albus asked in a tone leaning towards yes.

Scorpius nodded, flashing Albus a grin as he grabbed his wine glass and said, “Wait ‘til you try this wine.”

Albus grabbed another bottle from the case and an empty glass from the cupboard then walked out with Scorpius to join their fathers and Teddy. The garden gnomes peeked out as Teddy loudly greeted the couple, praising the fact they brought more wine, and the remainder of the afternoon passed with a wonderful ease.

**~ ~ ~**

A week later, Draco sat reading in the manor’s front parlour when the doorbell rang. Imp began to bark with excitement and Draco shut her into the parlour to prevent her from running out the front door when he opened it. Scorpius was accompanying Albus in Diagon Alley for the Potters’ back-to-school shopping, so Draco definitely didn’t expect to see Ginny when he answered the door.

“Has something happened? Is Scorpius all right?” he asked, moving aside so she could enter the foyer.

“Everything’s fine. Harry took them all himself so I could come see you. Your haircut looks nice,” she said as she walked inside. Her voice sounded nervous.

“Oh, thanks,” Draco said. Getting his hair cut like the other timeline was one of the first things he’d done after returning. Though Ginny complimenting it was slightly jarring, all things considered.

She adjusted a leather messenger bag that hung over her shoulder. His stomach lurched as he recognized it was _his_ bag.

“I thought that bag disappeared with the timeline,” he said.

“No, I think you forgot it in your haste to reunite with your son. You two disapparated home directly from the garden, remember? Harry found it by our fireplace,” Ginny explained.

“Oh.”

“Right, well, yes, he read your journals and Albus’ diaries. I caught him the other night and he showed me them. I thought they were a bit private for you not to have in your possession.”

She handed him the bag.

“So, you read them?”

Ginny’s ears turned pink.

“First, I want to say that I’m very much in love with Harry.”

“I would never suppose otherwise—”

“Let me finish,” Ginny cut him off and Draco held up a hand in apology. “Second, I really needed to read those words. To see myself anew. To remember who I am. I’ve become so entwined with my children and husband and life that I just… Well, I lost myself. And your words, your external vantage of me, they helped me rediscover my potential as you—other you—discovered it.”

Draco waited for her to continue, not wanting to cut her off again.

“That was it really,” she said.

“Okay,” Draco smiled. “I’m really happy for you. I mean that, truly.”

“I know. Thank you. Thank you for all of it.”

“Thank you for returning the journals.”

Ginny threw her arms around him suddenly and Draco put a tentative arm around her. He didn’t want to blur any lines, but her embrace felt platonic enough, so he relaxed into it.

“I hope you can fully rediscover yourself, Ginny,” he said softly.

“I hope the same for you, Draco.”

With that, she released him and walked out the door. Draco closed it behind her, and Imp began to whine from the parlour.

“Come on, girl,” he said as he set the cruppy free into the house. She ran around his legs in a series of circles and he laughed remembering how Custard used to do this to Astoria when she got home from work.

He went to his study to hide the journals in his desk, so they were less tempting to reread. Part of him wished Ginny hadn’t returned them at all. When he reached into the bag for them, he found a sealed letter addressed to him in handwriting he’d recognize anywhere.

He opened it with trembling hands.

_August 19, 2023_

_Dear Draco,_

_Harry Potter came back in time to save my life. He knew of a Muggle procedure to cure me and it worked. Only, I didn’t realize at the time it was future Harry. Time went on and I continued to live. But you, my darling, did not. There was an attack on the manor by a girl who claimed to be your Aunt Bellatrix’s and Lord Voldemort’s daughter. You died protecting me and Scorpius from her. Years later, and only five days ago for me, Scorpius began to panic that you weren’t alive. He was screaming for you, searching every room of the manor. I thought he’d fully lost it as your death had really disturbed him. But shortly after his panic began, Harry showed up with Albus and explained. He explained_ everything _. He told me Ginny had time traveled too as their failsafe, in case something went awry. I knew what I needed to do._

_I took Scorpius and Albus away to the cottage near Dawlish for one last holiday. They really are such wonderful boys. They explained that time alteration no longer impacts them, and they told me all about you. Their version of you. They both love you so very much._

_I know I will never see you again, and it’s been hard living without you these last four years. The house always feels too large. Too empty. Even with all of Scorpius’ light to fill it. So, I know how you must be feeling in your reality. But it’s you who must live. You who Scorpius truly needs. Even Albus needs you. I know you’ve ensured that our son is happy. He’s so very happy with you in his life._

_I love you so much, Draco, to Antares and back. Be well, my darling._

_Yours forever in time,_

_Astoria_

Draco set the letter carefully on his desk as tears flowed down his cheeks. He could scarcely breathe. The letter was dated with today’s date. And he felt her there in the room with him. She was all around him, consuming him with love.

The fireplace flashed green and Scorpius emerged.

“Dad?”

Draco couldn’t speak. The sobs were stuck in his throat and opening his mouth would release them.

Scorpius ran to him, enclosing him in an impossibly tight hug.

“Mrs. Potter said you would’ve read the letter by now.”

“I have,” Draco managed through a whisper.

“I love you so much, dad.”

“I love you, too, son.”

“I didn’t have long with her. Just a few days.”

Draco squeezed him tighter.

“We’re gonna be okay.”

“I know,” Draco whispered. “As long as you’re in it, Scorpius, then my world is perfect.”


End file.
